Hartley 28, Watterson 14: Hartley snaps long skid, beats Watterson

Saturday

Sep 29, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 29, 2012 at 10:20 AM

Longtime Hartley fans are painfully aware that there is no such thing as hitting the delete button with regard to the history of their series against Watterson. That's why Hawks coach Brad Burchfield made sure to tell his players that they had nothing to do with losing 29 of 32 games to the Eagles.

Mark Znidar, The Columbus Dispatch

Longtime Hartley fans are painfully aware that there is no such thing as hitting the delete button with regard to the history of their series against Watterson. That’s why Hawks coach Brad Burchfield made sure to tell his players that they had nothing to do with losing 29 of 32 games to the Eagles.

“This is between this year’s teams and not the teams of the past,” Burchfield said.

Hartley wrote a new chapter in the rivalry with a convincing 28-14 victory over Watterson last night before a crowd approaching 4,000 at Jack Ryan Field. Spectators parked their cars as far as four blocks away more than an hour before kickoff to see the teams play for the first time since 1996. The teams are scheduled to play again in 2013.

Ja’Wuan Woodley ran for 134 yards and one touchdown, Marcellus Calhoun ran for touchdowns of 3 and 17 yards, and Jacob Matuska caught a 6-yard touchdown pass and recovered a fumble to lead the Hawks.

“I played in the state-championship game two years ago, but I’ll tell you what, in our hearts this feeling is bigger,’’ Matuska said. “Not many who have played at Hartley get a chance to beat Watterson.”

The game was delayed for about 20 minutes after referee Julius Palazzo, an official for more than 30 years, collapsed with six minutes left in the second quarter. He was reported to have suffered heart arrhythmia. Palazzo was administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation by paramedics on the field. He was said to be alert and talking at Grant Medical Center.

In the second half, approximately 15 yards of railing along the visitors’ grandstand collapsed when fans leaned on it. One student was hospitalized as a precaution for abrasions.

Burchfield wanted to get Watterson backpedaling from the start with one of his favorite razzle-dazzle plays. On the first play, Woodley took a pitch from quarterback Jared Brandewie and completed a pass to Alonzo Saxton for 71 yards down to the 3-yard line.

Two plays later, Calhoun ran 3 yards for a touchdown.

“On Monday, coach always tells us the first play,” Woodley said. “We knew that first play was going to set the tempo.”

Watterson (3-3) did not become unglued and drove 69 yards to the 4 behind punishing blocking from its line. But running back Walter Green fumbled inside the 1-yard line on second-and-goal, and Hartley defensive back Trevonn Brown recovered in the end zone for a touchback.

The Hawks (6-0) drove 80 yards to take a 14-0 lead on a 17-yard touchdown run by Calhoun with 2:13 left in the first quarter.

The Eagles again pounded the ball down the field. This time, quarterback Andy Elberson was gang-tackled at the 1 on fourth down on the 14th play of the drive.

“We made some mistakes against a tough team,” Watterson coach Dan Bjelac said. “We turned it over going into the end zone. In a game like this, the margin for error is small. We know we have a good team.”

Two plays late in the second quarter put Hartley in command. First, Brandewie threw on the run and across the field to Matuska for a 37-yard completion to the Watterson 6-yard line on third-and-six. Then he hit Matuska for a touchdown on a perfect 6-yard fade into the corner of the end zone with 12.7 seconds left in the half to make it 21-0.

Burchfield tried to put the victory into perspective, saying the team’s main objective is to win another Division IV title.

“We did tell the kids it was a statement game,” he said. “For a long time, we were little brother. You have to win games like these.”

mznidar@dispatch.com

@MarkZnidar

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